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Hi Folks,
It's been a while since I posted anything on this list, so I
thought I'd share some random ramblings with the list and see what
I can get stirred up.
I have been long facinated with the mechanics of interstellar
economics and trade within the Traveller/MegaTraveller/Traveller++
framework. Indeed, many of my characters that I have played out in
other campaigns have been Merchants trying to make a fortune buying
and selling stuff, carting freight, and other such. Some of my
inspiration comes from history and study of the China Clippers and
the tea trade as well as the novel Tai Pan.
A successfull Merchant could easily become a rather influential
person in both an economic sense and politically, legally and
illegallly. But, I'm getting off on a rabbit trail here...
I think we all agree that there are massive holes in the trade and
commerce rules of MegaTraveller, and the OT rules in book 2 are
somewhat lacking. Other than that, I also feel that too much is
made of the influence of tech level on a planet's ability to trade
with other planets equitably. There are a number of other factors
to be considered.
One factor that will always be a major influence in an economy's
ability to provide product for trade to other economies is the
uniqueness of that product. For instance, in the China Clipper
trade, tea was a commodity that was only to be found in the
Orient. Indeed, that was the major commodity in it's trade with
the rest of the world. Bamboo and silks were second to that
commodity.
Another factor would be a percieved or real value. For instance,
gems and jewels. Sri Lankha continues to be a place to get good
quality gems in the modern world.
The so called "Bannana Republics" provide produce to the US economy
on a grand scale. We provide them with machinery and the like.
Keeping in mind the concept of trade here, how does one go about
paying for an economy's products? The planet Balderdash-VII may
well have enough gold on the planet that it is considered fill rock
for paving projects. As a result that would be a poor choice of
basis of trade. On the other hand the good people of
Balderdash-VII may have never seen tea before and consider it the
nectar of the gods and pay dearly for it.
As a result of those differences in values between economies, I
would submit that in an interstellar trade community more barter is
done rather than exchange of hard currency. Then again, I could be
all wet here.
Where is this text all leading? I dunno! I'm just rambling! :-)
Keep in mind I am not a student of economics and such subjects
usually baffle/bore me. However, for Traveller game reasons I am
trying to get a handle on it.
I have been for some time trying to come up with a set of tables
that would be used in the generation of worlds for a Traveller
campaign that would allow a ref to figure out what a world's major
economic products are and what it looks for in return from other
worlds. With such a system, setting up trade routes and fitting a
set of reasonable explainations for a planet's settlement would be
fairly easy.
Comments?
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|Peter L. Berghold | AT&T, HRSAG, +1 [phone removed] |
|INTERNET: [email removed] | UUCP: {[email removed]|att}!violin!plb |
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